NEW!! Poster abstract deadline: Sep 6 Sep 13 (submission site)

Multimodality and Interaction in Language Learning (MILLing) will bring together researchers in linguistics and computational linguistics to discuss learning through linguistic interaction, from the perspectives of both human language acquisition and machine learning. We encourage contributions from the fields of theoretical linguistics, experimental linguistics, pragmatics, computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science.

The conference is organised by the Centre for Linguistic Theory and Studies in Probability (CLASP, https://gu-clasp.github.io/), University of Gothenburg. The conference will be held between October 14 and 15 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Important dates

• Submission deadline: June 10, 2024, anywhere on Earth
• Notification of acceptance (papers): Aug 30, 2024, anywhere on Earth
• Notification of acceptance (posters): Sep 16, 2024, anywhere on Earth
• Poster abstract deadline: Sep 6 Sep 13, 2024, anywhere on Earth
• Camera ready: Sep 20, 2024, anywhere on Earth
• Registration deadline: Sep 29, 2024
• Conference: Oct 14–15, 2024, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Invited speakers

• Catherine Pelachaud http://chronos.isir.upmc.fr/~pelachaud/, Director of Research CNRS at INSR – Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, Sorbonne Université
• Charles Yang https://www.ling.upenn.edu/~ycharles/ Professor of Linguistics and Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania
• Napoleon Katsos https://sites.google.com/site/napoleonkatsos/home Professor of Experimental Pragmatics at the Section of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at the University of Cambridge and Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge

Topics of interest

We hope to see innovative work that considers language learning from different perspectives, and we hope to cultivate discussion that reaches across traditionally disparate disciplines. Papers are invited on topics in these and closely related areas, including (but not limited to) the following:

• Language acquisition: formal, statistical, experimental, and machine learning-based work
• Language learning through dialogue in humans and machines
• Multi-modality and figurativeness in language learning and dialogue
• Linguistic variation, adaptation, and audience design
• Low-resource and ecologically plausible language modelling (e.g., BabyLM)
• Cognitive architectures for language learning
• Information state update in humans and machines
• Cognitive approaches to second language acquisition
• Dialogue systems for language learning
• Online, reinforcement and curriculum learning in NLP
• Atypical development and language learning
• Ethical considerations in AI-assisted language learning

Submission Requirements

MILLing will feature two types of submissions: long papers and short papers. Long papers must describe original research, and they must not exceed 8 pages excluding references (position papers are also accepted and should be formatted in the same way). Short papers present work in progress, or they describe systems and/or projects. They must not exceed 4 pages excluding references. All types of papers will be published in the 2024 ACL Anthology as a CLASP Conference Proceedings. Papers should be electronically submitted via the softconf system at: https://softconf.com/n/MILLing2024/. Submissions should be PDF files and use the LaTeX or Word templates provided for ACL submissions (https://github.com/acl-org/acl-style-files). Submissions have to be anonymous. Please make sure that you select the right track when submitting your paper. Contact the organisers if you have problems using softconf.

Non-archival track

At the time of submission, authors may indicate that their paper should be considered for the non-archival track. The format for non-archival submissions is the same for both long and short papers. Non-archival papers will also undergo peer review.

Poster abstracts

We invite researchers to submit poster proposals in the above areas of interest. Poster submissions are non-archival. This is a great opportunity to get feedback on work in progress or to present previously published work to a new audience. Posters should be submitted by September 13th, 2024, anywhere on earth. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by September 16, 2024. Poster abstract submissions should be PDF files and use the LaTeX or Word templates provided for ACL submissions (https://github.com/acl-org/acl-style-files). Abstracts should not exceed 2 pages plus references and be submitted via the softconf system at: https://softconf.com/n/MILLing2024/. Accepted posters will be presented at the conference poster session.

Concurrent Submissions

Papers that have been or will be submitted to other conferences or publications must indicate this at submission time using a footnote on the title page of the submissions. Authors of papers accepted for presentation at MILLing must notify the program chairs by the camera-ready deadline as to whether the paper will be presented. All accepted papers must be presented at the conference to appear in the proceedings. We will not accept publications or presentation papers that overlap significantly in content or results with papers that will be (or have been) published elsewhere.

Camera Ready Versions

Camera ready versions should follow the same guidelines with respect to style and page numbers as the initial submission, i.e. there are no additional pages allowed in the final submission. Please submit the camera ready version by Sep 20, 2024.

About CLASP

MILLing is organised by the Centre for Linguistic Theory and Studies in Probability (CLASP, https://gu-clasp.github.io/) at the Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science (FLoV), University of Gothenburg. CLASP focuses its research on the application of probabilistic and information theoretic methods to the analysis of natural language. CLASP is concerned both with understanding the cognitive foundations of language and developing efficient language technology. We work at the interface of computational linguistics/natural language processing, theoretical linguistics, and cognitive science.